Coffee, Coffee, Coffee!
by fictrom33
Summary: They never truly made up. But now, two years after any contact, Jess and Rory meet in an old Philadelphia coffee shop, unaware of what's to come.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, the characters, settings, etc. **

**A/N: Was in the mood to write a Lit drabble, so I did. Set somewhere after the series finale. Hope you like it! **

_Philadelphia's freezing _kept running through Jess' head as he walked down the street. He wasn't just cold. He felt like little shards of ice were hitting his face as the wind hit him. Stuffing his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, he continued down the sidewalk, beginning to walk faster in order to get to the coffee shop, and out of this freezing air.

He turned the corner and saw his destination, breathing a small sigh of relief. He had to force himself to not push anyone out of the way, as he got closer to the little café. The wind picked up slightly, blowing water drops off the shop awnings and onto him. Sighing, he put his head down, continuing to walk fast.

Finally making it to the café, he walked in and was immediately met by the warm air inside. Shutting the door quickly as to not let any cold air in, he made his way over to his table in the corner. He looked around and observed that there were a lot of people that had gathered inside to get away from the cold, and it was getting more and more cramped by the minute.

He ordered his regular and proceeded to pull a book out of his back pocket. All these years and he still kept a book in his pocket; just in case he needed it. He also believed that by doing this, it gave him more time to process the book, rather than just rushing through it. He went page by page, and that was how he liked it.

A good thirty minutes later, he was still in the coffee house, engrossed in his book, sipping his coffee, avoiding the fifteen-degree temperature outside. It was overwhelmingly loud in the café, and he was pretty sure a lot of people were just talking to keep themselves warm. Yet somehow, over all the noise, and somehow over his own mind as he read, he heard a word said repetitively in a way he hadn't heard in a long time.

"Coffee, Coffee, Coffee!"

He knew immediately that it was the youngest Gilmore; he would recognize her voice anywhere. He could still hear her telling him why it was of utter importance to her and her mother that he would agree to sit and watch Willy Wonka with them, while eating very large amounts of candy and cookies.

He slowly looked up from his book, not really sure how to prepare himself for seeing her for the first time in two years. He had, of course, planned on seeing her later this year, at Luke and Lorelai's wedding, but he certainly wasn't planning on seeing her before winter was even over. But the moment he laid eyes on her, every memory flooded back to him.

_He picked up the phone, wondering who would be calling him this late. "Hello?" _

"_Hi."_

"_Hi."_

"_What are you doing?" _

"_Nothing, you?"_

"_Nothing."_

"_Why'd you call?" _

"_I um…I wanted to…"_

"_I'm glad you called."_

"_Yeah?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because maybe you can explain what the hell this crazy woman is talking about."_

"_Ah, the Fountainhead." He could tell she was holding back laughter._

"_Yes, your fault, and you will pay." He smiled a bit to himself. _

"_I promise. Commit to it one more time, and if it's still awful for you, I'll make it up to you." _

"_Oh yeah?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_I'll hold you to that."_

"_I'm going to Europe tomorrow, and I'm going to Yale, and I'm moving on. I'm not going to pine. I hope you didn't think I was going to pine, okay? I think…I think I may have loved you, but I just need to let it go. So that's it, I guess. I hope you're good. I want you to be good. And, um…okay, so goodbye. That word sounds really lame and stupid right now, but there it is. Goodbye." _

_He frowned at the phone and hoped to God it wasn't really goodbye. _

_Dodger. New York. Bid-a-Basket. Their bridge._

Her chestnut brown hair was longer than he'd seen it in a while, but she had it placed tightly in a bun. She was wearing a pantsuit. Her skin was as creamy white as ever. Her eyes were still bluer than blue.

She caught his glance and seemingly panicked for a moment, before smiling lightly and waving at him, walking slowly to his table. "Jess. I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"The feeling's mutual." He smirked, putting his book down on the table, gesturing for her to sit across from him.

"How have you been?" She asked politely, sitting down. He could tell she was nervous and completely thrown off guard that he was there.

"I've been good. Writing some here and there. What about you?" He asked.

"I've been good, too. I've actually been doing some great work as a reporter." She told him and began to explain what she had been doing the past year.

"That's amazing, Rory!" He told her. He had always known she would make it in the reporting field. She just had to give it time. He couldn't help but feeling extremely proud of her at the moment. They sat in silence for a while before he asked the question that had eaten at him for the past two years. "Still with blondie?"

Rory looked slightly taken aback that he would ask her that, but she replied, "Um, no, we broke up about a year ago." Her cheeks had turned slightly red as she looked down at the table.

"Why?" Jess asked, feeling slightly hopeful that something he had said had had some influence on them splitting up.

"He wanted to get married…I wasn't ready…he said all or nothing." Rory replied simply, as if she had already told the story a hundred times. Although, knowing Stars Hollow, he wouldn't be surprised if she had.

"Well he's a jerk. He should have waited…until you were ready." Jess told her, giving her that caring stare he had always had, the one she had never forgotten.

"What about you, are you seeing anyone?" Rory asked, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Jess smiled a little before replying,

"Nah…I've dated around…no one really stuck." He said, refraining from adding 'since you' to the end of that sentence. After another long moment of uncomfortable silence, he piped up,

"Rory?" She looked up expectantly, "I don't think I ever told you…but I am sorry I left back in high school."

Rory looked at him in shock, almost, but nodded slowly. "I…I know you are. I'm sorry too…" She bit her lip, "for leading you on all those times. I mean, when I was with Dean, and then Logan…"

"It's alright." He said, smiling a little.

Then suddenly, all the apologies came pouring out of both of them. He apologized for not calling enough. She apologized for putting most of the blame on him. He apologized for not ever telling her enough about himself. She even apologized about how Star's Hollow people had treated him. Within five minutes, every bad thing either of them had done to the other was forgotten, forgiven.

"Gilmore!" The cashier called suddenly, pulling the two out of their trance.

"Oh, I guess that's me…I have to go." She said, biting her lip again.

"Oh, well, goodbye Rory." Jess said, standing with her.

She then, in a very Rory-like manner, threw herself into his arms, burying her head in his chest. He was surprised, but hugged her back, just as tightly, holding her head in his hand, kissing her forehead. She slowly pulled away, smiling.

"Goodbye, Jess."

She began to walk away, but Jess called after her. "Rory?" She turned. "Can I call you?"

She smiled and nodded, and then she turned back to retrieve her coffee and leave. He sat back down, satisfied with himself, and tried not to laugh as he heard her complaining to the cashier that she was not actually asking for three coffees. Like mother, like daughter.

**Well there it is! I always felt like Rory and Jess never really truly made up and it bothered me, so this was my version of what should have happened. Meant to be a one shot, but if enough people want me to, I can turn it into a full fanfic. Hope you liked it! Review! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, the characters, settings, etc. Just this fan fiction. **

**A/N: So I definitely wasn't expecting such amazing feedback! Thank you so much everyone for reading and reviewing! Sorry for taking a little while to update, but here's chapter two! Thanks again, everyone! **

Jess' fingers ghosted over the phone buttons. He still had her number memorized. Even if he never called as much as she would have liked him to, he still remembered it easily, years later. He wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to say once she answered. He knew he wanted to somehow let her know that he still loved her, but he wasn't sure how he could say that perfectly.

Slowly, he dialed her number, still not entirely sure what he was going to say. In a way, he was hoping it would just go to voice mail so he wouldn't turn into the stuttering, seemingly shy, teenage version of himself that Rory had, for reasons he wasn't sure of, deemed cute several years ago. She had always said that it was a good thing that he didn't talk too much, otherwise they would cancel each other out.

"Hello?" Her mom's voice answered. Somehow it hadn't occurred to him until now that the number he had held so dear for so many years was her childhood house phone number, not her cell phone. He really should have thought of that one long before he let her leave the coffee shop, so he could find a way to reach her without having to go through the woman whom he had once believed threw fiery darts at his picture.

"Um…is Rory there?" He asked, feeling more stupid than he would've liked to at the moment.

"No…she hasn't lived here in a very long while. May I ask who's calling?" Her mother replied. Jess sighed. There was no way he was getting out of this one.

"This is Jess." He replied softly. There was a very long silence on the other end of the phone and he could only imagine Lorelai's eyes growing large as she tried to think of some snappy, sarcastic, critiquing thing to say to him. She really had never liked him. But instead, he heard confusion.

"Jess? As in…Jess Jess? Her high school boyfriend Jess? My fiancé's nephew Jess? Or is this a new Jess that she has just recently met and for some reason gave him her mother's home telephone number? Because if that's the case, hello, I'm Lorelai." Classic Lorelai, really.

"No, um, it's Jess Mariano." He said, trying not to laugh at Lorelai's still immature behavior. There was another silence on her end of the conversation and he started getting images of mad Lorelai in his head. Mad Lorelai was never exactly a pleasant sight and he wasn't quite sure how Luke handled it all the time.

"Oh. Well like I said before, Rory doesn't really live here anymore, considering she's a college graduate and trailing the Obama campaign…so typically people try and reach her on her cell phone. But I'll just go ahead and assume you don't have that number, and that's why you called here?"

"Well…if I'm being honest, I did kind of forget she wouldn't be there. But would you be able to give me her cell phone number?" Jess asked, still feeling pretty uncomfortable about talking to Lorelai. Especially about Rory. The last time he had seen Lorelai was at his mother's wedding, four years ago, where she had actually seemed to be over the problems she had had with him before. But of course right after that he had gone to Yale to ask Rory to run away with him, which he was sure Lorelai had heard about. So her opinion of him still probably wasn't exactly the greatest.

"Um, sure, but...Jess? Is she expecting you to call? Because I really wouldn't want to give you her number only for her to be mad at me for doing so." Lorelai said.

"Yeah, she is." He said softly. He could hear Lorelai sigh quietly.

"It's 660-9874."

"Thanks, Lorelai."

"You're welcome. And Jess?"

"Yes?"

"Don't…don't hurt her, or confuse her, or repeat history poorly. I know she's twenty-four, and can handle herself….but I really don't want to see any more bad blood between you two. I think both of you had enough of that in high school." Lorelai said.

"I promise." Jess replied.

"Good."

With that, the two said goodbye and Jess stared down at the sheet of paper he had written the number on. He sighed and began dialing what he really hoped would really be Rory this time.

"Hello?" He sighed in relief as it really was her this time. But then suddenly, he remembered that he hadn't quite come up with anything to say yet.

"Hey, Rory, it's Jess."

"Oh, hi!"

"Hi!"

There was a long moment of silence before Rory interrupted it with another, "Yeah…um, hey."

"We never change, do we Gilmore?" He asked, smirking. He had secretly always liked the whole, 'Hi' 'Hi' 'Hi' 'Hi' thing and was almost glad it hadn't changed over time. But at the same time, he wasn't exactly happy that he still, at twenty-four years old couldn't think of anything better to say.

"Not in the slightest, dodger." She said, and he could tell from her voice that she was smiling. He had always loved her smile. No matter the reason she was smiling, whether it was when she was laughing over how bad kissing him would be with braces, or whether it was when he had accidentally let it slip that he had looked up how far away Yale was, it was still the beautiful smile that belonged to her.

"I accidentally called your mom." He said, laughing a little.

"I was wondering how you got my cell phone number. I was nearly distraught when I realized I hadn't given it to you." She said, laughing with him. "What did she say?"

"Well first she wanted to know if I was Jess Jess, and then she gave me the classic Lorelai 'don't hurt her' talk." Jess replied sarcastically.

"Oh, wow, I'm sorry." Rory laughed. The two laughed before falling into more silence. It had always been a pretty comfortable silence between them, but for some reason there seemed to be tension. Rory suddenly sighed as if she had noticed it, and said, "Hey Jess?"

"Hmm?"

"Are we…is this all supposed to mean…I mean are we, I guess…"

"Back together?" He finished her sentence for her.

"Yeah."

"I hope so." He said softly. He smiled to himself a little before panicking that she wasn't replying. "Rory?"

"I want to see you." She said quietly. "Can we meet up tomorrow?" His heart started racing a little. If he was being totally honest, he was a little afraid before he called that she would reject him again, and tell him that they hadn't worked out any other time, why would they now? But in his opinion, it was because they were supposed to be together. They kept not working out, but running into each other because they were supposed to. It was a relief to him that she was asking to see him.

"Yeah, we can. Meet at the coffee shop at say, two, tomorrow?" He asked her, hopeful.

"That would be nice." She said, and he could tell she was smiling again.

"Well, then, Rory, I'll see you tomorrow." He said, smiling.

"Bye, Jess."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I know this chapter was probably a little boring, him being on the phone the whole time, but the next chapter will have a lot more in person interaction between Lit! Thanks again for reading, and all the positive feedback I got on the last chapter! Please review and let me know what you think! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls, the characters, the settings, etc. **

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you so much to everyone who has been favoriting, following, and reviewing this story! I really appreciate the support! Without further ado, here's chapter three! I've kept you all waiting enough! **

Rory felt her heart beat begin to race as she spotted Jess in the back of the coffee shop. He was staring at this coffee cup, as if he was trying to find something interesting about it. She smiled, taking in how he looked as he concentrated. His jaw set, eyebrows creased, his hair slightly in his face. She noted that it was the same look when he got angry, depending on the situation.

She slowly began to make her way towards the table, her nerves starting to get to her a little. She managed to sit down and look up at him, her hands shaking, much to her embarrassment. Just as she looked up, he did too, and suddenly all her nerves washed away. This was Jess…her Jess…her best friend, the one she didn't think she would ever manage to get over no matter what happened between them. The one whom it was impossible for her to feel uncomfortable around.

"Hello." She said a little awkwardly. He smirked, before replying,

"Hey." He picked up the second mug of coffee on the table and handed it to her, "I went ahead and got you a cup. It must be cold out there."

She smiled, taking the coffee from him and sipping it, "Yes, it definitely is. Besides, coffee is my friend, so even if you hadn't ordered any for me, and if for any reason I then didn't order it myself, it would've crawled into a mug and convinced the mug to make the walk over here to me."

"You are most definitely your mother's child." He smirked again.

"Thank you." Rory said, laughing a little.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, just smiling at one another, drinking their coffee. Rory felt like they were in high school again, sitting in Luke's, doing the same thing. She could still hear Lorelai's side comment to Luke, "Ahh, to be young and in love, the age where love is simply drooling over one another like a couple sleeping puppies and keeping your hands to yourself just isn't an option."

"So do you think the entire town of Stars Hollow will know about this by Christmas?" Jess piped up.

Rory laughed, but then stopped abruptly when she realized he was probably right. "Oh God, even when we're not in town, we're the talk of it, aren't we?" He chuckled and nodded.

"Always have been." He smirked.

"It's always me!" Rory dramatically yelped, getting shushed by a few customers. She giggled a little and looked back up at Jess' laughing face.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" He asked her when they both stopped laughing.

"Sure." She smiled at him.

* * *

"You didn't!" Rory exclaimed, laughing so hard she was doubled over, walking down the sidewalk.

"I did! Apparently, it's important to make sure your roommate didn't leave a spoon in a dish before you microwave it!" He said incredulously, laughing as well.

"I wonder why!" She giggled as he nudged her side.

"Is this your apartment?" He asked as she stopped in front of a building.

"Yeah, it is…do you want to come up for a while?" she asked, pulling her keys out of her pocket.

"Sure." He smiled. They made their way upstairs and Rory immediately walked over to the kitchen, throwing her jacket off on the couch, where there were several other things in a mass of clutter.

"I have….leftover pizza…poptarts…and peanut butter and jelly." Rory said, sifting through her cabinets and refrigerator.

"Sounds…very unhealthy." Jess said, smirking.

"But very tasty." Rory smiled, putting a plate of pizza in the microwave. Jess watched as she tried to clean up the couch, and chuckled a little when she plopped down giddily, patting the spot beside her. He gladly sat down and smiled at her.

"I really have missed you, Ror." Jess said suddenly in a hushed tone. Rory looked up at him, her bright blue eyes wide. The timer went off for the pizza, but neither one of them seemed to hear it. Jess was gazing at her so intently and gently and Rory thought she was going to melt under his stare if he didn't stop watching her.

"I've…I've really missed you too." She said softly, shifting a slight bit closer to him on the couch. Jess looked concentrated again. She could tell he was thinking and debating something in his head, the way he was biting his lip and scrunching his face up.

"Rory…I still love you. And I don't know if you feel that way about me still or not, but…I had to tell you." He said. Rory ducked her head and smiled, and he tried to take that as a good thing, but he was panicking on the inside.

"Jess, I wouldn't have gone out with you today, and asked if we were back together or not, if I didn't still love you. Why would you ever think I would do that?" She asked, smiling softly. Jess felt a huge weight lift off of his chest. For the first time, they were both on the same page. For the first time, he realized that Rory really did love him, even for all his flaws.

"I was scared. I thought maybe you were willing to go on a date with me, but that didn't mean you still loved me." He said. "But…you do."

"I really do."

Before she knew what was happening, Jess had leaned over and crashed his lips on Rory's, his hand coming up to cradle her face. He caught her off guard, but she managed to recover and kiss him back with everything she could.

So many emotions flew at the two of them all at once. Relief of finally being able to kiss one another, and express their feelings without being scared of rejection. Lust because that's how Rory and Jess know best how to express their emotions to one another. Guilt for making each other wait so long before they admitted how they felt. Anger at the other for treating them the way they had. But mostly, and most importantly, love, because that's how Rory and Jess were. They could hate each other with every fiber of their being and still love each other. That's how they had always been, really.

Jess pulled Rory as close to him as he could manage, pulling her into his lap so his arms could tightly wrap around her waist. She cradled her hands on the sides of his face, sighing in contentment. She had never realized how much she missed his kisses until now. Jess pulled back slightly, resting his forehead on hers, breathing heavily.

"I really love you, Rory."

"I really love you too, Jess."

"Are you still hungry?"

"Starved."

He smirked and pulled her off his lap, getting up to help her get the pizza.

**A/N: So that is definitely not the end of the story, I still have plenty of material, so bear with me here! I know this chapter's pretty short, sorry about that! But yay for confessions of love! The next chapter will hopefully be fairly soon, and hopefully longer! But anyway, thanks for reading! **


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